School kids Dwingeloo chat globally about stars

10 year old children of the "Burgemeester W.A. Storkschool" in Dwingeloo will attend a chat-session on Saturday 15 May with kids in South Africa and Australia. They will do this during a live internet exchange, organised by ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy and Universe Awareness (UNAWE). UNAWE is an international programme, that brings young children in contact with the inspiring aspects of astronomy. UNAWE is a worldwide platform for the exchange of ideas, materials and educational programmes in the field of astronomy and is active in 38 countries worldwide.

The internet exchange on 15 May has been organised in honour of a big conference that ASTRON is organising in June, in Drenthe: the International SKA Forum 2010. During this conference, scientists and engineers from all over the world will talk about a new revolutionary radio telescope that will follow the current biggest radio telescope in the world LOFAR: the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). During the conference, the internet exchange will also be presented, to point out that the construction of a telescope also influences (young) children, the scientists of the future, and their ideas about astronomy and the Universe.

During the internet exchange, the kids from Dwingeloo will compare homemade telescopes with the telescopes that the kids in South-Africa and Australia have made. The day will conclude with a tour around the Westerbork telescope.